Archives of medical research
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An expandable vertebral body prosthesis with dual cage-and-plate function in a single device (JR prosthesis) was designed to test the hypothesis that this modular system can provide the biomechanical requirements for immediate and durable spine stabilization after corpectomy. Cadaver assays were performed with a stainless steal device to test fixation and adequacy to the human spine anatomy. Then, 14 patients with vertebral tumors (eight metastatic) underwent corpectomy and vertebral body replacement with a titanium-made JR prosthesis. ⋯ A nonfatal case of inferior vena cava surgical injury was observed (repaired during surgery without further complications). In conclusion, the JR prosthesis stabilizes the spine immediately after surgery and for the rest of the patients' life. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the clinical experience of any expandable vertebral body prosthesis with dual cage-and-plate function in a single device.